Do Not Go Gently
by The Final Lament
Summary: Time passes for everyone and everything, even the League of Legends. Almost a hundred years after its founding one champion reflects on all that has been and that shall be.


Disclaimer: I do not own League of Legends nor any of the characters involved, nor am I profiting from this fic.

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The old woman had been dying for a very long time, in more senses than one. It had been two years since she was finally declared too old to compete on the Fields of Justice, what had been surprising was the response as those who'd known her longest had also departed, declaring their intent to care for her in her old age and infirmity.

Gently a gleaming brass hand held a glass out to her, she took it with a smile, in a certain light she was beautiful even now, the last hints of red hair framing her wise eyes, behind which a childish glee danced behind even now.

"You don't have to be here Blitz." She said quietly, "I know seeing me like this hurts you."

The golem looked at her with his best approximation of warmth, "I made caring for you my purpose. I will not abandon my purpose."

She laughed lightly, "We had a good run didn't we? We all did?"

The machine thought about this for a time, analysing the question from all angles. "Yes." It concluded finally.

"I miss them all terribly you know."

"Yes Annie. I know." The machine replied.

"How's Amumu taking it?" She asked, the mummy hadn't visited for several months, unable to cope with the potential loss of his longest lasting friend in his long sad life.

"He said he'd be here. At the end." was all Blitzcrank could think to say.

"And the others?" When you'd known someone for over a century letting go was a difficult task, she knew that better than most. It was surprising who you grew to miss when you'd never contemplated the idea they might be gone some day, perhaps it was for that reason she'd missed Nasus so much. The ancient creature had died in what could only be described as a freak accident when the spells allowing revival on the Fields of Justice had malfunctioned. It wouldn't have been a problem, shouldn't have been. As one they'd all stopped as soon as it was announced; none of them wanting to actually risk dying.

Alas a single arrow, fired from Ashe's bow, continued onwards, all the way down to one of the turrets where it stopped, embedded firmly in a heart millenia old. They'd closed the League for over a year after that, to make sure it never happened again. The archer had never returned to the League, choosing to focus more on the affairs of her tribe afterwards.

"They're ok. Even Nocturne inquired after you." That was phrasing it a touch diplomatically, the creature had actually said, 'A pity, her nightmares were most exquisite.'

"That's nice." Annie replied, not fooled for a moment, though after knowing it for so long it was difficult to hate Nocturne, the creature had never asked to be made.

There was a knock at the room's door. A gentle but insistent tap.

Annie extended her supernatural senses, at this point far more reliable than the normal five, as she sat up in her bed, "Come in Karthus."

The lich phased through the door, noting the sudden caution in the golem's stance. "Be still lifeless creature, I come with a joyful gift." Somehow this failed to calm the golem, perhaps it was the fact Karthus viewed death as a gift, or perhaps it was that it had killed three of the other champions when not on the Fields of Justice, though it had been proven Lucian was purely in self-defence.

"Don't worry Blitz, Karthus wouldn't hurt me." The old woman whispered, though there was sudden steel in her eyes as she brought her gaze to bear upon the lich, "Would you Karthus?"

If the undead could look bashful then Karthus managed it. "No Annie. I meant it when I said I had a gift for you." The once-human creature held out a skeletal hand wreathed in spectral energy, the bony fingers clasped around a glowing ball. "The gift of a painless death. You'll know when to use it."

"Thank you." The old woman replied, and was surprised to find she meant it as she took the orb from him.

"Are you sure you won't reconsider my offer?" He asked one final time as he turned to leave.

"Sorry old friend, but I accept my death for what it is. Your condition suits you but I doubt I would enjoy it as much."

"I had to ask at least." The lich conceded before leaving through one of the walls.

"What did he offer you?" The golem inquired quietly.

"To become like him." Annie said calmly, as if throwing away immortality were an everyday occurrence.

"Why did you say no?" Blitzcrank asked, as far as the golem was aware all mortals aspired to immortality, much as all immortals desired a finite lifespan.

"Spend long enough in the Shadow Isles you'll lose yourself." Annie explained, "And that's the only place the undead are welcome... other than the League."

"Will you use his 'gift'?" The great steam golem asked, more than a touch disprovingly.

"...I'm not sure." She confessed, "It's not like Karthus to give a genuine kindness, it would be criminal to waste it."

There was another knock, this one far more definite, in fact there was a distinctive crunching of wood. Annie merely smiled, she'd been expecting this visitor.

"Come in Nautilus." She said as loudly as she could.

With great difficulty the creature known as Nautilus forced it's way through. "Karthus told me." It rumbled, piercing, glowing gaze daring anyone to challenge his presence. "I thought I should be here for the end."

The woman smiled warmly at the hateful creature, placing a hand on a large metal finger. "You're more than welcome here. Isn't that right Blitz?" Again a note of steel rang through the voice, even now Annie was formidable and had prevented many a fight between champions upon leaving her youth. There had always been something highly effective about a diplomat who could and would set you on fire if you were unreasonable.

The titanic creature, his diving suit marred by rust and algal growth, moved to stand in a corner. For so very long his passion for vengeance had burned, vengeance now unfulfilled likely until the end of time. Whoever had abandoned him was most likely dead of old age by now.

It would be inaccurate to say Nautilus had mellowed, the hate in his heart burned as brightly now as it did the day he made it ashore for the first time but even he had to admit that time had done what he had not. It wasn't enough and the Titan of the Depths had taken a very long time to find purpose anew. Perhaps ironically he had taken up Nami's fallen quest. The mermaid also claimed by time's ravages.

It was an open secret that Nautilus had been there at her death, though noone had ever had the courage to ask what had happened and what had been said, all they knew was that the Titan had been consumed by new purpose afterwards. Defending the aquatic champions home from all threats, his anchor more than a match for any horror to emerge from the depths, though admittedly a couple of said horrors had instead been gently – for Nautilus – redirected to the League.

"Are you expecting anyone else Annie?" Blitzcrank intoned, eyes glancing around the sparsely furnished room, it was large but with the size of some of the surviving champions that would mean very little, a problem somewhat mitigated by the fact that without a genuine miracle Cho'gath would not be making an appearance and nor would they want it to.

"Expecting no. Would I be surprised? Not really."

"Who are you expect- not likely to be surprised by?" The golem corrected himself halfway through.

"Well your girlfriend for one."

It was perhaps fortunate that machines couldn't blush, Blitzcrank simply staring at her, "She was the logical choice in long term partner."

"I'm teasing you ya great lug." Weakly the mage punched the metal creature on the arm. "Still did she say if she'd be putting in an appearance?"

"I haven't seen Orianna for over a decade Annie." Her friend admitted, "She took her father's passing very hard."

"Sorry, but the way you always talk about her... I assumed you were still together."

"We are. She just needed some time to herself, to think. You forget sometimes my friend, we live on a different timescale to you... I fear that with your passing most of us will become entirely insular." The machine replied, voice thick with sorrows he couldn't quite express.

Blitzcrank's courtship of Orianna had been watched by many in the League with a mixture of curiosity and amusement, it had been possibly the most logically pursued romance in Valoran history, the two were never seen to argue, their mechanical nature allowing them to work past misunderstandings by long conversation, until every facet of the disagreement had been explored and each understood the others stance – and the reasons behind it – perfectly; taking days if necessary.

Corin's death had been the only marring upon this otherwise flawless record. The clockwork girl, knowing her father's natural life was drawing to a close had asked her boyfriend to ask his own father, Viktor, to 'upgrade' her father.

Viktor had been eager to oblige, and yet after no more than a minute alone in his subject's company he'd walked out.

Solemnly he'd told his 'son' - even with the creation of the Battlecast line, Blitzcrank remained the height of his pride - that he would not turn the 'true master of mechanical lifeforms' against his will. The golem had been quite stunned, it was the first time his creator had even suggested anyone's intelligence could surpass his own. It had taken decades for him to even acknowledge Vel'koz as a potential equal.

"I'm sorry." Annie said simply.

"Don't be, wounds of the heart heal slowly but they heal, and we have more time than most to come to terms. Now who else would you not be surprised to see?"

"Patience Blitz old friend, patience. You shall see." Mischief dancing in the woman's eyes.

Patience in this case required an hour's wait. The golem's first clue of the new arrival was when Miss Hastur had opened her eyes and sat up expectantly moments before the last surviving members of the League's original roster of intelligentsia knocked on the door, the wooden construct opening with a casual burst of Annie's waning powers.

"Viktor, Vellie, this is a surprise." The mage said, the lie revealed as she was yet to look in their direction.

"We wished to mark vigil over your passing Miss Hastur." Vel'Koz replied pleasantly, used to the irritation nickname after decades of sufferance. "Morgana and Kayle told us now was the time. The League has become an embittered place in your absence, time will tell if the world shall suffer the same."

"As the void creature says. I wished to witness the passing of one who has been such a gut friend to my son." The Machine Herald declared, heading bowed respectfully.

By now the cyborg was more metal than man, little more than his formidable mind remaining, though there were signs of humanity left, sentiment mostly where the designs and equipment of the other great minds of the time had been integrated into his chasis. No other reason could explain why Jayce's Mercury Hammer had been built into his left arm, the two had put aside their differences during the void invasion, the war had been brief but fierce ending in the deaths of Malzahar and Kassadin but no other champions had succumbed, only one of the void champions had sided with the Herald of the Void, Cho'Gath the creature too strong to simply execute.

When asked about their indifference Vel'Koz and Kha'Zix had laughed darkly, the floating eyeball declaring Valoran far too interesting to see consumed in a few months of madness whilst Kha'Zix had merely indicated a claw at Rengar, citing unfinished business as his reason. Kog'Maw hadn't seemed to understand the question, nor the concept of war.

Yet many differences had been set aside in the brief chaos, where arch-enemies had been forced to fight side by side, though some rivalries had proven too bitter to be let go. Lucian and Thresh for example, the Purifier eventually getting his vengeance yet overreaching himself soon after, meeting his end at the Deathsinger Karthus' bony hand.

Kha'Zix's rivalry had also proved his end. One night he and Rengar had disappeared from the League only to be found three days later, claws through each other's hearts. Noone had been surprised.

Back in the present Annie smiled at them both, they may have looked like creatures from a horror novel but they were both good friends.

"It's good to see you. Do you know if they told Amumu?" She asked urgently. She hadn't been sure that today would be the day but trusted Morgana's judgement.

"I do not know." Viktor informed her, "but Shyvana and Jarvan will be here soon, as will a few others who wish to see you off as it were."

And that appeared to be that from both of them, after ninety years all the important things to be said had been said, the silence truly companionable from all present.

Shyvana and Jarvan VI – current King of Demacia – arrived ten minutes later, the half-dragon beginning to show the first signs of age as she fussed around her grandson like a mother hen.

"Lady Hastur." The king said politely even as his grandmother pulled the woman into a tight embrace.

"How are you my dear?" Shyvana asked her, releasing the embrace.

"At peace." Annie replied after a moment's thought, then chuckled wheezily, "Things are beginning to make sense at least."

"Do enlighten us." The half-dragon replied, moving away from the bed.

"It's nothing important. Just Morgana told me once that I would die surrounded by my family, only now do I understand what she meant." There was a self-effacing shrug from the old mage. "You are my family, all of you, the only family I have since Mum and Dad died."

The mage smiled contentedly and lay back on the bed.

From the door Kayle and Morgana frowned, tracking down their companions had taken longer than they'd expected.

It was Morgana who voiced what they were both thinking. "We are too late."

From behind them, next to the other remaining original champions, Amumu began to weep.

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Author's Note: I'm not entirely pleased with the fic but the idea came to me one night, and considering Riot will never advance the lore in any meaningful way it somehow felt right to skip ahead to the end so to speak. I couldn't include all the history that occurred to me as it made the fic seem somewhat dry.


End file.
